


Of Ships and Sails

by Lumakins



Category: Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Minor Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-07
Packaged: 2018-05-25 06:06:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6183601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumakins/pseuds/Lumakins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inej found her calling in the world of Fjerda. No longer will she be a pawn of the Dregs and, reward in hand, she intends to leave the Barrel - with or without her former companions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Ships and Sails

"I will have you without your armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all."

Inej kept playing the scene over in her mind: wondering if she could have done something, wondering if she could expect him to do something. He was Kaz Brekker - he had never done anything for anyone else before, so why start now. She had thought he could change for her but she knew better now. He didn't care for anyone but himself.

She was the Wraith - she didn't show her hand. She was a ghost with no past and no future. No one could touch something they couldn't see. So how was it that Kaz had managed to see, touch, and break her? He haunted her dreams just as she haunted the streets. He stole her essence just as she stole secrets. She was called the Wraith but he was the one that deserved the title.

She hadn't seen him since they left the Ferolind. She had vowed to stay away from the Slat and he had made no effort to find her. She watched as Jesper and Wylan searched the streets for her and she saw Matthias glancing over his shoulder for the shadow of Nina's friend. She had intercepted him once to check on her status but there had been no change. Inej hated that her plan required leaving Nina in this state, but this was the time for her to be selfish and selfishness did not let her stay in the Barrel.

Jesper had brought her share of the reward the day after it had fallen into their dirty hands. As she ran her fingers across the purple paper, she felt that grime wash away. Death, theft, betrayal, she was going to make it all right. She was going to dedicate everything to her goal. Even if she failed, there was nothing she would miss and no one to miss her. He had made that clear.

She met with Per Haskell when she was certain she would not be intercepted on her approach. He was in a better mood than she had ever seen him with his share of the reward and money from her debt in his hands. The bargain was made even easier - a few of the Dregs less notable members for a sum of kruge. It didn't pain Inej to hand the money over. His greed needed it more than she ever would.

The crew she had gathered had more than proved itself from their pasts of the sea. Their respect and fear of the Wraith assured Inej that she would not have to worry about a revolt though she could handle every one of them should she have to. She planned to recruit more on their journey - fighters and mediks - but for now, these loyal Dregs would do - especially if the price was right.

Her boat was small and just like the crew, it would have to expand as her operation grew. Despite its scratches and faults, Inej looked at it fondly, her gentle hand caressing it surface. Her dreams were assembling before her eyes and she knew that everything she had gone through up to now - her Suli background, her indenture in the Menagerie, her training, their journey to rescue Bo Yul-Bayur - had led her to this purpose. Slavers would fear her name and she would do everything in her power to stop them.

She caught Jesper and Wylan as they were leaving the Slat a few days before her departure and requested they join her. A sharpshooter Fabrikator and a demolitions expert would prove useful on her adventures and she knew that Kaz would never forgive Jesper for his accidental betrayal. What point was there in serving a master who would never appreciate them?

"Give me some time, Inej. There are some things I want to take care of first. I want to see Ravka and visit my father." Inej did not miss the glance in Wylan's direction either. While she and Matthias were having their foundations torn out from under them, she was glad at least one member of their group held hope.

"Come visit us." Wylan requested as Inej turned to leave. She hesitated and nodded once before taking a running leap and scaling the wall to the rooftops. 

That night, her last in Kerch, Inej stayed in her room at the Slat. She kept her eyes forward as she entered the building of her gang and started to climb the stairs. Her family whispered around her, speculating where she had been and if the rumors of her departure were true. They would find out soon enough. She took the time to only remove the most dangerous of her clothing, her kneepads and knives, before she curled up, fully clothed, on her bed. Her sleep was surrounded by nightmares that would have once been her favorite dreams. Kaz - his skin pressed against hers and his rough voice in her ear. She woke up after a particularly distressing dream, tears streaming down her face. She no longer tried to sleep.

She left before dawn, grabbing her things as quickly as she could before she fled the room, the building, the territory: running, running, running. She ran all the way to the boat and didn't stop until she had touched the deck, feeling her heart pounding in place of her feet.

She occupied herself by preparing for their departure. Inej subconsciously counted down the seconds until they could sail away from the pier and away from Kaz. Kaz: the name that had killed her. During that morning, not a minute passed that she did not miss him but that time had passed before it had begun. She could not wish for what she knew he could not give. It would just send her to oblivion.

When the crew arrived, they did not mention her haggard appearance. Her last crew would have questioned her, worried about her, but they were in shambles. Never again would they set out for a heist and Inej was not sure if she would have wanted to. Breaking into Ice Court had been too much and she had been more scared in that single day than she had ever been before.

Matthias, Jesper and Wylan came to see her off, a letter from Nina clutched in the Fjerda male's hands. She wished she could have seen Inej off, but it was the best she could do and the Suli girl appreciated the effort.

She said her goodbyes. A handshake with Matthias, a hug with Jesper. When she approached Wylan, small drops of saltwater appeared in his eyes and she reached forward to wipe them away. "Take care of Jesper." She whispered to the ex-Merchling. "Keep him out of the gambling halls." He nodded and she stepped away, turning to board her salvation and prison.

"Inej!" The call was distant, but she would recognize it anywhere. She tensed as he limped forward, stopping at the base of the makeshift bridge that led onto Inej's boat. Kaz Brekker - bastard of the Barrel.

"What?" Her tone was neutral but the words alone gave away her emotions: her hurt, her anger, her regret. She heard him start to limp towards her and turned to face him, defiance in her eyes.

No matter what he said, how he tried to bribe her, she would not return to the Slat. She would not be a pawn for him to play with whenever he felt in the mood. She was worth more than that and in degrading herself to that level, she might as well return to the Menagerie.

He stopped before her, close enough that he could grab her if she tried to run. "You forgot this." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Sankt Petyr. He offered it to her and, suddenly, she was not the Wraith but the young girl he had saved from a life of service, trained to be a weapon.

She snatched the knife from him and ran her hand over it as if to make sure it was not harmed. She must have forgotten it in her haste to leave that morning. It was a testament to how much Kaz affected her.

"Is that all you came to say?" She asked as she returned to knife to its rightful spot. She didn't look at him, afraid of what she might find if she did.

"What do you want me to say?" He responded, his voice quiet but loud in the unnatural silence of the pier. It was as if the world was holding its breath, waiting for one of them to explode.

"You know what I want."

"I want you to stay with me." He said, just as he had said that night of the Ferolind. Inej noticed he looked no different rich than he had poor though he promised to change his haircut. Taking in the small things and ignoring the big picture helped her to remain calm with panic wedged in her throat. It threatened to suffocate her as she managed a response.

"I don't care."

Kaz's eyes flashed with something similar to anger and in the next second his cane was thrown to the ground and in another he was ripping his gloves off, letting them fall to rest beside his cane. He surged forward, one pale hand coming to rest on her hip while the other cradled her cheek. She could see the pain on his face the moment before their lips pressed together.

He was disgusted and unskilled and she was fighting the reminders of her previous life and neither were happy but neither would change it for anything. Inej brought her hands forward to cling to his jacket and he moved his hands to pull her heavily-clothed body against his.

Inej didn't care what Kaz had done to her nor did she care that, if she agreed to return, he may never give her this again. In that moment, Inej knew that she could never leave Kaz. She didn't know what the future would hold, if she would ever realize her dream or if she could help Kaz through his past but it didn't matter.

They could face it together.


End file.
